All Those Friendly People
by superbroski
Summary: Armin Arlert's life was never one of adventure, never one of anti-normal activities. He was regular teenager with a brilliant mind, and like everyone else, he had a dream. Annie Leonhart was not a regular girl; she didn't live like everyone else. She was a teenager with more terrible experiences for a lifetime, but like everyone else, she had a dream. AU. Aruani. M for language.
1. Prolouge - Colour Fade

**A/N -** This is mainly Aruani. M for language. I hope you enjoy!

I do not own Shingeki no Kyojin or any of it's characters.

Oh, how I wish.

* * *

**Prologue**_ – Color Fade_

_Once upon a time, there was a town with two individuals who could not have  
been more different from one another.  
Throughout their many experiences, these opposites learned to  
love with a love that was more than love.  
__This is their story._

_**All Those Friendly People**_

* * *

The day had started like any other. Armin woke up, feeling relieved that it was finally Friday. The house was empty, due to his grandfather having to open the family book shop. He still had an hour before he would have to start heading to school, so he showered and dressed in a simple, gray, loose-fitting tank top with an unbuttoned, maroon cardigan and black pants. He made his jelly on toast, eating it while looking over last night's homework yet again to see if he made any mistakes, which of course he hadn't being the prodigy he was. And when he saw that it was fifteen-to-eight he put on his coat, grabbed his bag and skateboard and headed to school.

Armin loved skating almost as much as he did reading; feeling the wind blow through his coat making its way through his shirt, even if it was a cold morning, and watching the life fly past him on the streets. Not only was it a good substitute until he could save enough for a car, it was also one of the little sports he could execute without feeling like he was going to pass out ten minutes later. The hobby started two years ago when he was fifteen and asked his best friend to teach him how to skate. A couple months and a considerable amount of bruises later, he knew the basics and a few easy tricks. Of course he was nothing compared to Eren, who had been skating a lot longer.

Speak of the devil.

Who else would Armin run into but his acrimonious best friend and his adoptive sister, Mikasa Ackerman, walking to school? Armin made a stop next to them and put his board under one arm.

"Hey guys!" He said with a quick wave and a smile, and proceeded to walk with them.

"Oh, hey man." Eren said while continuing to look forward.

"Hi, Armin." Mikasa also said with a half-hearted smile, as she readjusted her famous red scarf to shield her face from the wind.

_They must have been arguing again_. Armin thought, but decided not to ask about it. He knew that it had been tense in the Yeager household these past couple of weeks because Eren wanted to enroll into the Military after they graduated, but Mikasa and their mother kept objecting which only resulted in a three-way conflict between them.

"Eren where's your board?" Armin asked, noticing that it wasn't under his arm.

"One of the wheels broke." Eren said grumpily, while giving an accusing glare to Mikasa. She only continued to look straight ahead; obviously unfazed at the face he was offering her.

"Oh, that's a shame." Armin said. _Damn, the tension is so palpable you could cut it with a knife._

"Yeah, I'm taking it to the skate shop after school though. But, hey! Did you hear about that new girl that moved here from the other side of Shiganshina? I think her name is Annie…" For a split second Armin could have sworn he saw Mikasa's eyes darken when Eren said that name. "Apparently she got into a fight with Ymir and gave her a black eye."

"Ymir must've done something to piss her off. You know what she's like. But no, I didn't. It must suck to move in the middle of the semester, though. Maybe we should introduce ourselves." Armin could now see the three story building with the blue roof coming into was their third year now at the hell hole that was called high school.

At Armin's sentence, he noticed Mikasa's lips turn downwards into a small frown. "What, Mikasa?"

"Nothing... It's just… I don't think you or Eren should get to know her. She's not a good person."

"Well then maybe it's a good thing I don't believe in _good_ people…" He stated jokingly. "C'mon, we can at least give her a chance." When the three of them walked through the front doors, Armin started climbing the stairs to where his locker and first period was, while the other two kept walking down the hall. Eren turned around, walking backwards as he said "We'll see you at lunch, Armin!" waved, then disappeared around the corner with Mikasa and Armin proceeded with the long hike to the third floor. Because he was so intelligent, the school board had decided to put him in the accelerated and AP senior classes this year. It wasn't for the most part a bad thing for Armin; he enjoyed the challenges that the classes provided, but like everything there were two sides to it. One of the things he didn't enjoy was that he only had one period with his two best friends, and that was PE; not one of Armin's favorite classes. While he was always nice to everybody, which made making friends an easy task, it wasn't quite the same. Most of the time people overlooked him like he was invisible, and the fact that he was a grade below his classmates only added to that dilemma. Finally Armin got to his locker on the third floor, albeit, out of breath, and entered the four digit combination. With a click, he opened it and proceeded to put his skateboard and backpack away and hung up his coat. After he was done with everything and had the books he needed, he shut the locker door and started walking to his first hour, German III with Mr. Bozado. He looked around at all the students putting their belongings into their lockers, issuing into their classes, or talking with their friends. When all of a sudden he saw a patch of blonde he didn't recognize. His eyes followed the streaks of hair down the side of her face, and saw a very short girl with bored, steely blue eyes, an overturned nose, and pink lips. Her hair was in a messy bun and she was wearing a simple white sweatshirt that was too big and jeans that had a few holes in them. It was the most uninteresting outfit.

And yet she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

He didn't even realize he had been staring until she walked up to him. His heart started to beat faster as she got closer and closer. And finally she was standing right in front of him, with the look of absolute boredom still on her face, and said -

"Gawk at someone else… you're creeping me out." Her breathe smelled like peppermint and cigarette smoke, and just like that, she walked in the direction he had just come from. He turned the color of a cherry and looked around in time to see her enter one of the many classrooms. Trying to push the embarrassing moment from his mind, he shook his head and continued on to class.

* * *

German was usually a very easy subject for Armin. His grandfather and mother moved here from Germany, and his grandfather taught him how to speak it starting at a very young age; it was basically a second language to him. But for some reason, or because of **someone**, he was having a very difficult time paying attention. He looked out the window in a daze. The skies had turned gray and it was now raining lightly, the sound of distant thunder was in the background. It didn't help his mood, and neither did his thoughts.

_Why am I so damn weird? She probably thought I was such a freak for staring at her like that. God! She said I creeped her out! I can never talk to her again! Who was she anyways? She was really pretty… Maybe she was the new girl, Ann-_

"Arlert!" Mr. Bozado practically shouted.

"Y-yes sir?" Armin looked around and saw the entire classrooms eyes on him. He heard snickering and looked behind to find none other than Jean Kirstein, with Marco Bott sitting next to him trying to 'shush' him. The sound of his teacher's voice snapped his head back to the front.

"Unter welchem Namen hat die deutsche Jugendbewegung in ganz Deutschland bekannt geworden?" Mr. Bozado said, very loudly, testing to see if Armin was paying attention. He even went as far as to ask the question in German. His face had a smug look on it, just begging Armin to get it wrong.

_Under which name did the German Youth Movement become famous throughout Germany? _Armin translated in his mind.

_Oh, that's easy._

"Um… W-Wandervogel, sir?" Armin was now blushing all the way up to his ears. _Why am I only visible when it's to embarrass me?_

The smug expression on his teachers face was quickly wiped away, back to the one that said 'I despise you all. If it didn't pay the rent I wouldn't be here.' And that was enough to let Armin know he had gotten the question right.

Mr. Bozado quickly returned to the lesson, and Armin went back to his thoughts, making sure he still faced the front of the class.

The bell rang twenty minutes later and everybody started packing up their things to advance to second hour. When Armin got back out in the hall he took his phone out of his pocket and looked at the two unread messages.

From: **Eren**

**Received** | 8:36 am | ymirs eye looks like shit

**Received** | 8:37 am | i guess the rumor was true… mikasa saw her wlkin up the stairs before class & pointed her out… shes so short i cant believe she stood a chance agnst ymir

Armin typed a few things on his keyboard and pressed send.

**Sent** | 9:02 am | What did she look like? I may have seen her earlier.

He turned the corner slipping his phone back into his pocket. A minute later he felt it buzz and took it out again. He continued walking as he looked at the screen and saw

From: **Eren**

**Received** | 9:04 am | idk… blonde.. sweatshirt looked bored as hell

Because Armin was looking down, paying attention to his phone, he barely noticed he had walked straight into said small blonde.

"Watch where you fucking goi-" She looked up to see who it was. "Oh, it's you." Her face showed one of total annoyance.

"I'm so, so sorry!" Armin looked up from his phone and, also, realized who he was standing in front of. His face turned a bright crimson.

"Yeah, whatever... just fuck off." She said as she started to walk around him.

"Wait!" He quickly grabbed her shoulder and turned her around to face him. Her expression was of shock but rapidly turned into a look that would scare the devil himself and he removed his hand as fast as he had put it there. "Um… if it's not too rude to ask, is y-your name Annie?"

"What's it to you?" Annie continued to give him a dirty look, and Armin started to feel more and more nervous. _I feel like she's going to murder me just for asking her name._

"Well I just… I just thought that since y-you're new here… that I should… I don't know… introduce my-myself." Armin tried to give her a friendly smile, but because he was so nervous, he probably just looked constipated. "I'm Armin Arlert." He reached out his hand to shake hers, but she just looked down at it like it was poisonous.

Silence.

Armin returned his arm to his side and Annie removed her scowl, returning to her bored look, turned once again and started to walk away again.

"I-if you want you could join me for lunch! I mean, it wouldn't just be you and me! My friends would be there too… Um... we usually meet outside the front doors." She stopped walking away, and listened. "I mean… only if you want to." Then she turned the corner and was gone.

He couldn't help but stare at the emptiness that was occupied by her body only a minute earlier.

_Wow._

The sound of the minute bell rang and with a few curses Armin hurried off to his next hour before he was late.

* * *

Lunch couldn't have arrived sooner. It was his favorite time of day because he could hang out with his friends, and hopefully a certain blonde, and get away from the campus grounds for a bit. It had stopped drizzling, but the gray clouds only begged to start down pouring again. The petit blonde was still on his mind, Armin didn't know for sure if she would show up but he couldn't help but wait in anticipation. He looked around at all the students getting in their cars, or walking to go to wherever they were going for lunch. He noticed Ymir, with her black eye, and Krista Lenz walking to Ymir's car which was a red BMW E21, an old car but it fit her surprisingly well. Armin always thought it was weird that Ymir owned a car that was about 39 years old, when she was only 18 and lived by herself. Armin brushed off that thought when he saw Eren, followed by Mikasa, approach him.

"Hi guys!" Armin said with a cheesy smile.

"Hey, are you ready to go?" Eren smiled, stopping next to him. "I'm starving!" And to prove his point his stomach made a loud grumbling noise.

"I… was wondering if we could wait a few more minutes. I asked someone to join us today, I hope that's alright." Eren just nodded at Armin's sentence, but Mikasa looked curious.

"Who did you ask, Armin?"

"O-oh… um, A-annie." Armin blushed a bit when he told them, he noticed Mikasa's eyes glaze over at the mention of her name and her expression turn cold. Armin quickly inputted "B-but, I don't even think she'll show up… she didn't really give me a definite answer. I just thought… It wouldn't hurt to wait a little while longer."

"No, I don't want her joining us." Mikasa's voice didn't display anger or discontent, but it was strict and even had a bit of worry in it. _What did Mikasa know about Annie? Did she know her before she moved here?_

"C'mon Mikasa, you can argue with me because I'm your family but you can't restrict Armin from doing what he wants." Eren said annoyance seeping with every word, even rolling his eyes to display his irritation and in response Mikasa turned her attention to him. Trying to change the subject before he had a broken bone, he told his friends "So, did you guys hear about Reiner's party?" Both shook their heads no. "He came up to me today and told me that all three of us were invited, it's supposed to be fuckin amazing! Even better than the last one."

"Eren, don't curse." Mikasa reminded him. "I also don't know what's so appealing to you about getting so drunk you can't stand up straight."

"Aww, so you're sayin you're not gonna go?" Eren put his hands together and gave her puppy-dog eyes.

Mikasa sighed at his behavior. "Who else is going to make sure you don't get yourself killed?"

"Yes! What about you Armin?" Eren looked expectantly to his best friend.

"I guess. It's not like I had anything planned anyways." Armin shrugged his shoulders. It had been a couple more minutes now, and the three of them were talking about the plan for after school.  
_I guess she isn't going to show up after all._ "We can start heading to Belle Roche now." He said trying not to sound too defeated.

"Are you sure, Armin?"

"Yeah… It's fine. I'm sure something just came up." He tried to sound as convincing as he could. They all started walking now, getting farther and farther away from the campus. Even if he barely knew the girl, it was still disappointing that she ditched him. _Ok, so she didn't give me an answer. _ But still, he couldn't help but feel rejected. The three of them blissfully walked and talked and finally their favorite restaurant was now in view, The Belle Roche Café. It was a small hole-in-the-wall place that was always packed and always had the same elderly man sitting in the back reading his book, the tall walls were brick and had fake ivy wrapped around each one and fairy lights fell from the winding staircase that led to the second floor. It had been a tradition for the three of them to come and eat here every Friday as a little celebration that the week was over and the weekend was about to begin. They had everything from macarons the colors of the rainbow, to a cheesy beef and bacon sandwich. When they all entered the quiet atmosphere, Armin and Mikasa went to find a table as Eren ordered the usual for everybody.

Eren; a pork and ham Cuban sandwich with extra pickles and a Pepsi to drink. Mikasa would get the Quesadilla with black beans, corn and cilantro, with lemonade. And last but not least, Armin would get his favorite which was the chicken and pesto Grilled Cheese sandwich with no tomatoes, and a hot chocolate now that the weather was getting colder. They all sat around the small table and talked about their plans for Thanksgiving break, which was quickly approaching. The Yeager family would be going on vacation to Sina, where their mother had family, and would stay there for the majority of the week long break. Armin was staying here in town with his grandfather like they did every year, and didn't have any set plans except for the visit to his mother and father's grave. This time of year was always the hardest; it would bring back all the pain that Armin tried to keep locked away.

"Armin, you'll be ok." Mikasa tried to reassure him. "If you start getting bad again, we're only a phone call away."

"Plus, your grandfather will be with you this year." Eren also inputted, trying to make his best friend feel better. But Armin was looking straight ahead, thinking about the unsure future.

Lunch had come and gone, and now they were back at school saying their goodbyes as they went to their next class. The rest of the day progressed just as quickly, and Armin was at his locker putting on his coat and grabbing his skateboard. He locked it with the spin of the dial and walked down the stairs telling the friends he passed on the way to have a good weekend. When he got outside, it had started raining again and he put up the hood of his coat. He was walking down the street enjoying the feeling of relief that school was over for the time being, when he saw a familiar blonde headed girl walking by herself and smoking a cigarette. He swallowed his nervousness and hastened his steps until he was walking beside her.

"Hi again, Annie." He said giving her a smile that reached ear to ear, which she seemed to not have noticed, because all he got in response was silence as she blew the smoke she had just inhaled. "Where do you live? I could walk you home." Again, he was only met with silence. The bravery he had been feeling before was slowly draining. "How was the rest of your day? It was a bummer that you couldn't make it to lu–"

"Armin." She interrupted, but didn't wait for him to respond. "You don't know me. I don't know you. I don't know why you're trying so hard to be my friend. All I really want is for everybody to fuck off and stop pretending I mean **shit** to them. So, please, just leave me alone." And at that he slowed to a stop. She threw her cigarette butt on the ground and started to move faster, leaving him to watch her walk away.

_But I want to get to know you._

* * *

_Maybe that was too much? _Annie asked herself as she walked into her kitchen. She had gotten home to the small house about ten minutes ago, her father already asleep in his room; she stripped off her wet clothes and threw on an oversized band T-shirt. It was an ex-boyfriend's and was so big it almost touched her knees. _It's not like he would want to be my friend after he got to know me anyways. He would run the first chance he got._

_Maybe you should let him decide that, _another part of her brain thought. She opened her fridge, not surprised when the only thing she found was a bottle of olives and an assortment of condiments; it was her own fault for not doing the shopping yet. Her stomach growled in protest from not eating lunch and when the stomach pains subsided she closed the fridge door before olives and ketchup started sounding like a good idea. She walked back to her room and went to the window. She opened it a crack and felt the chilly air blow through her shoulder length hair, the sun had already set but it was still drizzling. She fell back on her bed and felt the tiredness of a long week succumb her to sleep.

She awoke to the sound of movement in the kitchen. _I guess dad is up. _She looked over to her phone on her bedside table. 1:24 am, and she also had two new messages. Unlocking her phone she went to her inbox.

From : **Reiner**

**Received **| 11:14 pm | cmon annie… it's a friday night and im throwin a party... come on over if you feel like it.

**Received** | 11:15 pm | plus bert says he misses you haha

She was about to send a text declining, when she heard her father yelling her name.

"Annie!" She sighed and opened her door; walking into the kitchen she saw her father leaning against one of the counters. She looked at him, a worried expression etching itself onto her face.

"Dad, what're you doing awa…ke?" She fell silent when she saw what was in the middle of the table and froze. His voice caught her attention and she looked back up at her father.

"What the fuck is this?" He was angry now, which only made the situation more terrifying. She quickly looked back down at the little brown jewelry box, then back up at him. This jewelry box was her mother's and it was the only thing that Annie had left of her; it was her most treasured object. _No, no, no, no, no_. How and when had he found it? She was stunned, but she had to get it back. "What the **FUCK** is this?!" Annie flinched at the tone of her father's voice. Her heart was now beating loudly in her ears and she started to breathe faster, already feeling her crystal eyes fill with tears. _Calm down… calm down. C'mon you need to keep his mind off of it_.

"It's nothing, just a regular jewelry box. I bought it a couple years ago…" Annie said trying her best to keep her voice calm. "Did you take your medicine?" She watched as her father picked up the box and approached her. "Dad, did you take your medicine?" she was getting more and more afraid the closer he got.

"Annie… Annie, honey..." He caressed her cheek, and she felt all the tears rush back. "You know I hate it when you **lie** to me!" She heard a loud smack and felt the palm of his hand collide with the skin on her right cheek. She brought a hand to that side of her face, trying in a useless attempt to subdue the stinging and doing a lousy job at trying to hold back tears. The only thing heard was her sobs echoing throughout the silent house. She remembered the beginning of all of this like it happened yesterday. It started small like a snowball rolling down a hill. Harmless at first, until it got bigger and bigger as the problems got more and more serious.

She was twelve years old; the doctors had told them his mental illness was slowly consuming his mind. _They said it wouldn't happen for a while though, right?_

Fourteen years old, her mother had finally had enough and overdosed on sleeping pills. _Mom, I wish you would have taken me with you._

Fifteen, her father had a breakdown at work and lost his job, that night would be the first time he ever hit her. _But it's ok, because you said it wouldn't happen again_.

Sixteen, she was working more than she was going to school so she could support them both. _Missing a few classes won't hurt_.

Seventeen, the money their uncle gave them was gone and she was using everything she had for her father's medicine. _Who cares about food? As long as he's getting what he needs._

Eighteen, her father had gotten a job working from home and Annie could finally focus on school. _But I'd rather work than go to school; there are so many rumors I've lost count._

Eighteen, the house was costing too much and her father had told them they were moving. _Maybe it's for the best._

But he had only gotten worse throughout the month they had lived here. He had forgotten to enroll her into school until this last week, they wouldn't have accepted her if not for his condition, and he became more and more violent as his brain became more and more unresponsive. In the end, the snowball has to stop in one way or another.

"I'm sorry... sshh, shh Annie." She felt his arms wrap around her and rub her back, but that only made her sob even more, out of frustration, out of anger, out of feeling like she couldn't do anything, because in truth she couldn't. She couldn't push him away or it might set him off again. She couldn't scream at him because it would only make things worse. The only thing she could do was cry silently to herself and wait for him to calm down. "Annie… you and me, we gotta stick together. I'm the only one you can trust in this sick world." She didn't know how to respond, she had thought about running away from this horrible life too many times. The only thing stopping her was the fact that he needed her.

"Annie? Why won't you answer me?" She felt him push off of her and watched as realization sunk in. "You're-you're leaving me! You fuckin are, aren't you? You're FUCKIN leaving me!" He clutched his head in his hands and he started to scream.

"No! No I'm not! I'm right here, I'm not going anywhere." Annie cried back, desperately trying to get him to calm down. She cupped his face in her hands and gently shushed him. But he roughly pushed her into the wall and curled his fist into a ball before she even knew what was going on. A second later she heard a sickening sound of knuckles against skin and felt something warm run down her chin. Her lip was bleeding. She was so consumed with the pain in her lip and jaw; Annie hadn't noticed another fist being formed, this time aiming straight for her stomach. She doubled over in agony, tears spilling while she hugged her abdomen trying desperately to breathe.

"You can't leave me! You **can't** leave me! I won't **fucking** let you!" He was now screaming at her so loudly she was sure the neighbors could hear.

Because Annie was now hunched over, she was at the same level as the arm that held the only remaining piece she had of her mother. So she seized the opportunity and quickly snatched it, running to her room before he even registered what had happened. Her stomach protested from the sudden movement and she almost fell to her knees from all the pain. But she had to keep going, and she wouldn't stop until she reached her destination. And finally, when she made it there, she shut her door and locked it. She searched around frantically for her leather backpack, finding it under the clothes she had removed earlier, and dumped the contents all over the floor. She quickly stuffed it with extra clothes, her phone charger and her mother's jewelry box. She jumped when she heard pounding on the door.

"Please, come back! I'm sorry! Daddy's so sorry! It won't happen again, baby! I- I promise sweetie!"

Feeling more adrenaline pump through her veins she threw on a pair of black leggings and tied up her boots. After slipping on her green surplus jacket, she jammed her phone and a pack of cigarettes into one of the many jacket pockets, then adjusted the bag on her back and opened her window. _Lucky we moved into a one story hous_e. Then slipped her legs through and felt her feet land on the wet grass.

And she ran, leaving the sounds of her father behind her. She ran without looking back, knowing exactly where to go.

From: **Reiner**

**Received **| 11:14 pm | c'mon annie… it's a friday night and im throwin a party…. come on over if you feel like it.

**Received** | 11:15 pm | plus bert says he misses you haha

**Sent** | 1:46 am | Sure. I'm on my way.

* * *

**A/N - Thank you so much for reading! All unanswered questions will be answered in further chapters. Chapter 1 will be out soon. Reviews and critics are always appreciated. Until next time!**


	2. Chapter 1 - Didn't Have to Go

I do not own Shingeki no Kyojin or its characters.

* * *

**Chapter I **– _Didn't Have to Go_

"_**You never answer on the phone,**_

_** With your nicotine lips and heart of stone…**_

_** I look for you by the underpass,**_

_** Looks like this love wasn't meant to last."**_

Funeral Suits** -**

'_All Those Friendly People'_

* * *

Annie looked ahead and finally saw her destination down a long gravel road, down said road sat a two story mansion that was Reiner's "house". The house was secluded by farm country and surrounded by tall pine trees, which was why Reiner had a reputation for throwing parties; there was no better place. She walked listening to the crunch of gravel under her boots and the on-going party in the distance as she pulled out a cigarette, lighting it, and inhaled. Last she'd checked the time it was 2:45, it'd probably been ten more minutes since then and Annie was just glad she didn't have to walk anymore. Her thoughts kept drifting back and forth to the party she was about to walk into, to what had occurred the hour before. _Why is this world so cruel? What did he do to deserve something as horrible as this? _The thought of her father made her feel sick to her stomach, partially from the impact from his blow earlier, but mainly because she couldn't believe the person that she loved was doing this to her, and it wasn't even his fault. Who could she blame? She felt fresh new tears fall onto her angrily rubbed her face with her free hand.

She got to the front door and knocked once, but it just swung open. She walked in, bombarded by the smoky atmosphere and dancing bodies everywhere. Hearing the blasting music in the background she recognized the familiar song to be one by Crystal Castles, which was in fact one of her favorite bands. As she walked through the dark rooms, only lit up by the bright lights flashing in every direction, she passed several people she remembered from school. That too-nice guy Marco, who always followed that one guy with the temper… _What was his name_? _Oh yeah… Jean something. _She saw Ymir in a corner watching her every move with a petit blonde girl sitting on the chair next to her, Annie quickly turned away before she gave her an excuse to come up to her. Navigating through the sea of people she looked around for Reiner or Bertolt, and finally spotted Reiner dancing against a girl she didn't know. She had black hair that was in two pigtails and grey eyes. Annie squeezed by a couple sucking each other's faces and tapped Reiner's shoulder. He looked upset that someone had just disturbed him and his 'friend' until he saw who was responsible.

"Annie!" Shock was evident from his face and Annie guessed that he had never seen her text message.

"Yeah… hey."

"I-I can't believe you're actually here!"

The song overhead changed songs to something she didn't recognize.

"Mhm… could we go somewhere a little more quiet?" She felt uncomfortably warm and needed to get away from the mass of people.

He nodded and led her to his large kitchen, after he told the girl he'd be right back. It was definitely quieter and didn't have anybody there except them and a maroon colored girl raiding the food cabinets. Annie looked at all the red cups and alcoholic drinks that littered every counter and Reiner must have seen her looking at the liquor because a minute later he asked her "Can I get you a drink?" to which she nodded and watched him pour vodka into a new cup and handed it to her.

"Where's Bertolt?"

"Oh, he got so fucked up he ended up passing out. He's upstairs in my room right now sleepin." He told her while fixing his own drink.

"What about you? You don't seem that fucked, not like everyone else I passed by." She was now taking sips of the beverage in her hand.

"Aha, well… I don't look it… and I guess I don't act it, but trust me when I say, I'm feelin pretty fuckin great right now."

Annie smirked at her drunk, and most likely high, friend and undid the zipper on her coat, taking it off in one swift movement and draped it over her forearm.

"Hey! I remember that shirt! Man, I can't believe you kept it."

"It's comfy…" Annie told him silently; embarrassed that she'd forgotten she was wearing it. Reiner just chuckled to himself from her behavior and kept drinking from his cup.

"So what's with the bag? You didn't just come here for my party did you?"

He looked suspiciously at her lip and she shook her head no and looked down at her shoes. "I wanted to see… if I could stay here, for a while?"

A minute passed when he finally spoke up. "Annie, you know what my answer is."

She looked up at him to see he was smiling. A second later she couldn't help her own small smile make its way on her face. "Thank you, Reiner."

"You can take any of the guest bedrooms, you know where they are." Then he walked out of the kitchen back to the living room. Annie sighed and watched the maroon haired girl munch on a bag of cookies furiously. Annie then gulped the last of her drink and put it on the counter, then opened the door that kept the single staircase which curved and winded and led to the second floor.

As she climbed she looked at the many pictures on the wall, one was of a younger Reiner and his little brother, Riley, standing in front of their old house. Annie missed that house, there was a tree house in the back that Reiner's grandfather had helped build before he died. It was Annie, Reiner and Bertolt's secret place, a place they could go to get away from all the shit in the world. That was until Bertolt moved away, then it was Reiner, and now it was her. But now that they were back together it just wasn't the same as before, too many bad memories where the good ones should be. She got to the top where the door was closed and opened it to reveal a large hallway where even more pictures hung on each wall.

She spotted one of herself, probably ten, with the two boys arm and arm and giving the camera below them the biggest smiles she had seen in a long time.  
_We look so happy… _She reached out and touched the cold glass.

* * *

When Annie had finally chosen a room, she left her backpack and coat on the bed and proceeded down the main stairs, back into the raging party. She felt a little off, it had been a long time since she had been to a party, but soon enough she was moving her body to the rhythm. A little earlier Reiner had shared a joint with her, and it wasn't long until she felt it kick in. Reiner had left for the upstairs, with the same girl Annie had seen before, after introducing her to a few of his friends whose names she couldn't recall right now. She was now on her second red cup, dancing in the middle of the crowded room. Her bangs were sticking to her sweaty forehead and her back was drenched from all the dancing she had been doing, but she didn't care. She was feeling too good to care. That was until she saw a certain person across the room and froze.

He was swaying to the music next to an Asian girl, who looked oddly familiar to Annie, and a taller boy who had his arms draped over the girl for support. The taller guy was yelling really loudly about beating the shit out of Jean, who had obviously done something to offend him, and Annie guessed he was really drunk from the slurring in his words. She was watching the blonde, intrigued; until she noticed she was being watched by the exact person she was watching and quickly turned her gaze.

_Shit._ She glanced back at him and saw he was saying something to his friends, and then he started to maneuver his way around the bodies towards… her. _Ohh… no. Not good._ She looked around for any type of exit and remembered the back door in the kitchen, but her legs wouldn't move. She was frozen in place watching him slowly approach her, that was, until a girl wrapped her arms around him trying to get him to dance with her. Annie felt her legs obey her and hastily walked out of the room leaving the blonde boy to pry the girls grip off him.

Escaping outside, Annie felt the chilly wind blow through her hair and shivered from the drastic climate change. Tiny rain drops dotted her face and bare arms as she walked through Reiner's backyard. His back yard was a large hill that sloped down into a giant lake with a dock. Thinking that that would be a good place to go and hide for the time being she walked along the stony path. _Fuck it's cold. _Her stomach still ached and she was sure, along with the cut on her lip, she had a bruise on her jaw. After a couple of minutes she made it to the end of the dock and sat down looking up at the almost full moon. It was even windier down here and she shivered even more, deep in thought.

_What is it about him that… intrigues me? _Annie had noticed Armin earlier in the week when she had passed him in the hallway; she thought he was cute, in a nerdy-bookish kind of way. Not that she would ever admit that out loud. But no matter how many times she passed him he never seemed to notice her before today. Something about him intimidated her, something she couldn't explain when she looked at his eyes. Feeling they only showed the surface of_… _

_Of what though? I don't know … _Maybe that's why she felt drawn to him.

_Not that he would believe me, especially now from the way I treated him at school. He'll probably never want to talk to me again._

"Hello."

Annie quickly turned around, in shock, at the intruder. "A-Armin…" She looked up at him and noticed he wasn't looking her in the eyes. "What are you doing here?" It came out more rudely than she had meant it to and she saw him flinch, looking more nervous than ever.

"I was looking for you, s-sorry. I'll just leave."

But as he was turning around she realized she didn't want him to leave, whether because she was just tipsy… or maybe something else. "Um, actually… please stay." Her voice was almost a whisper but he seemed to have heard, despite the ongoing party in the back ground, because he stopped and turned to face her again.

"O-oh… alright." And he sat down next to her, both of them feeling extremely awkward.

"I'm sorry you think–"

"I just wanted to say–" They both said at the same time.

"Um… you go Annie." He said while scratching the back of his head.

She took a deep breath and after a minute, she began. "I'm… ah, sorry. For lunch and…" She felt stupid apologizing. It was the one thing she never let herself do, but she felt like he deserved one. He was only trying to be nice to her. "For snapping at you after school… and I guess snapping at you **during** school too." She watched him smirk at her. _Good, now he probably thinks I'm stupid too._ "I-I guess… what I'm trying to-to say is." She took another breath, trying to get herself to stop stuttering. "I'd like to start over… uh, if you want." She looked to him and his smirk had turned into a smile that reached ear to ear. Then he did something that surprised Annie, he laughed.

It was carefree, the kind of laugh that could light up a room. And she blushed because she kind of liked it. _Great, now I definitely know I'm not thinking straight… _"Wha-what are you laughing at?"

"I'm… I'm really so-sorry!" He said in-between chuckles. "I'm not… not laughing at you. I swear!"

"Then what is it?" She felt herself becoming more and more impatient.

When he calmed down he spoke again. "I guess I've never really been on the other side. It's usually me getting so flustered it's hard to speak. But here you are apologizing… to _me_. I just think it's one of the most unusual things." He sighed and looked past the lake. "But thank you, Annie." And when he looked back at her with his cheesy smile, her stomach did a somersault and she felt something she hadn't in a really long time.

She felt appreciated. Like he enjoyed that she was with him in that moment.

"And if it's still alright with you. I would also like to start over." She gave him a small nod and watched as he extended his left hand. "Hi, I'm Armin, what's your name?" She accepted the odd handshake and couldn't help but smile too.

"Hi Armin, I'm Annie Leonhart."

Armin's smile got even bigger, if that was even likely, and they sat like that, shaking hands. Him grinning like an idiot, her not really sure what to make of the situation but felt happy, she didn't even know it was possible for her to smile again and even if it wasn't a big smile, it felt incredibly foreign to her. It was a minute before he finally let go and awkwardly scratched the back of his head again. They both sat in silence watching the cars pass on the highway across the lake.

"You should do that more often."

"What's that?"

"Smile" He turned his head to face her once again. "It looks nice on you." She blushed crimson and ran a hand through her shoulder length hair.

"Oh… ah… thank you." Annie didn't know how to react, she was rarely complimented and the fact that it had come from this blonde boy made her even more confused about how to react.

"So why did you move here, Annie?"

Even though she was glad that he had changed the subject, it seemed it only changed to one more uncomfortable for Annie to talk about.

"It was my father's decision, kind of a quick one too." She knew she hadn't fully answered the question, and Armin raised his eyebrow suspicious, but was smart not to press on about it. "Armin, what did you want to say? Before?"

Armin looked at her and she saw something sad, solemn, in his eyes but it was gone as fast as it appeared. "You look cold… here." She had been so busy trying to decipher what his eyes meant that she hadn't noticed that he had taken off his cardigan to give to her.

She shook her head 'no'. "But, then you'll be cold." She hated to rely on others, if she was cold she would suck it up or deal with it herself.

"I don't mind, I'm still warm from the party anyways."

After minutes of him insisting, she finally accepted the cardigan and slipped her arms through, already feeling the warmth from the previous owner's spread through her. "Thank you."

All she got in response was a small smile and a nod.

* * *

Annie awoke in her bed still wearing Armin's cardigan and looked up at the ceiling, thinking about the events that occurred the night before. She and Armin had gone inside shortly after he had given her his cardigan and decided that it was time he took his friends home, he had told her that his grandfather had let him borrow the car and she wondered why he said grandfather, not mom or dad. Where were they?It wasn't really her business though, considering they'd only just met. But, thinking about the possibility that his parents might not be in the picture, made her sad. She gripped the collar of the cardigan in her right hand and brought it up to her nose. It smelled like coconut conditioner and the brand of cologne Armin used. It strangely comforted her and throughout the day she caught herself doing it but quickly stopped in case Reiner or Bertolt noticed. It was a side of her she never let anyone see, especially her closest friends. At the moment they were all sitting in Reiner's car waiting for the rest of their food at a drive through.

"Reiner, who was the girl from last night?" Annie asked while she sipped on her Dr. Pepper.

"Oh, she's just some junior."

"Does this junior have a name?"

"Mhm… don't worry about it."

Annie raised her eyebrow, suspicious, and looked back to Bertolt who only gave her a shrug in response so she decided to drop the subject. Finally the rest of their food arrived and they started driving to Bertolt's house.

"Annie, weren't you talking to Armin last night?" Bertolt spoke up from the back seat. "I saw you guys down at the docks from my window."

"Yeah… how do you know him?"

"We have fourth and eighth hour together. He's a good friend… he tutors me sometimes too, it's kinda embarrassing to admit though." Bertolt was now munching on his fries and stuffing food in Reiner's mouth whenever he asked for more.

"Why?"

"Cause he's a grade below us, aha…"

"Oh…"

"So you and Arlert are a thing now, huh?" Reiner gave her a sly smirk.

"Wha!?" Annie could feel her cheeks burning up. "Fuck off Reiner. Course not…" She gave him a punch to the arm as payback for his comment.

"I only tell it how it is, _Annibella_." He kept on driving, completely unfazed as he received yet another punch from the furious blonde; she hated it when he used her full name.

* * *

Armin woke up and looked over at his clock. 11:15 am, a normal time for him to be waking up. He hated getting up early, a trait that seemed to run in his family, and it took all of his effort just to wake up in time for school.

"Good morning, Beatrice." Armin told his pet boa constrictor while he stretched. He looked at the snake in her cage. "You know… now that I think about it, you remind me a lot of this girl I met yesterday." A rustling next to Armin got his attention and he looked over to find a sleeping Eren. _Oh, right… Eren wanted to spend the night, considering he was so shitfaced he couldn't even stand up straight. _Armin always thought it was crazy that they both managed to fit into his twin bed whenever Eren stayed over.

With a sigh Armin got out of bed and put his sweatpants on, then headed to the bathroom for a much needed pee, plus he thought it would be nice to get some painkillers for his best friend. After putting two tablets down on the bed-side-table, he walked down the stairs and into the kitchen where his grandfather was reading the morning paper.

"Morning" Armin said as he walked past his grandfather to the cupboards, where the bowls were kept, and put one on the table, then opened the fridge to take out the milk, and finally, grabbed the already open box of fruit loops and a spoon and sat down.

"Good morning, Armin. Did you have fun last night?" His grandfather folded the newspaper and put it down in the middle of the table. Armin wondered why his voice sounded hoarse, like he'd been crying. All he could do to respond was nod his head yes as his mouth was now full with his third spoonful. He looked down at the page his granddad had left off at and read the caption.

**Annual Memorial for Scientists of Shiganshina District, to be Held Next Week**

He slowed his chewing to a stop and felt like throwing everything he'd just eaten back up. His eyes traveled down the page and looked at the picture of his mother and father.

His mother's hair, blonde, like his own, her eyes closed as she gave the camera a big smile and a wave, his father's arm around her shoulders and the other hand in his coat pocket. Behind his glasses was a pair of brilliant blue eyes with a few wrinkles from smiling, which only added to his handsome features.

"They were too young... too full of life." Armin looked up at the sound of his grandfather's voice. Armin watched as he reached out to touch his daughter's face, but his hand only hovered over it like it would burn him if it got too close. In the end he removed his hand and rubbed his eyes behind his spectacles. "Why? Why?"

Armin knew the question wasn't directed at him, so all he could do was continue to watch in silence.

After his grandfather left the room, Armin didn't feel all that hungry anymore so he opted to take a shower instead; maybe the warm water would get his thoughts in order. On the way to the bathroom he bumped into Eren, who had obviously just woken up because he was clutching his forehead in one hand and brushing his teeth with a spare toothbrush in the other.

"Why do I drink, Armin?"

"I've asked you the same question before, Eren. You always say 'cause it's fun' until you wake up the next morning." Armin smirked when he saw his friend roll his eyes and walk past him back in his bedroom. When Armin got to the bathroom he shut the door, and turned the nob of the shower until it was on hot. While he was waiting for the water to warm up; he leaned against the counter and looked through his contacts.

**Annie Leonhart**

He couldn't believe she had given it to him when he asked. When he first met her, it seemed like she hated him, but now he had her number. _What a weird night… maybe she'll want to hang out today? _Deciding that he would text her after his shower, he stripped off his clothes and jumped in, feeling the warm water trickle down his neck, shoulders and back, he already felt more relaxed. After finishing up, he put the same clothes back on and walked back to his room while patting his hair dry with his towel. There he found Eren lying with his back against the headboard/bookcase, texting.

"Eren…"

"Hm?" He said without looking up from his phone.

"Showers open... Also, what time do you want me to take you back home?"

"Hmm… why? Do you have somewhere else to be?"

"I… might."

At that Eren gave him a mischievous look.

"Annie?"

He got his response when the blonde turned the color of a cherry.

"It's not what you think, Eren!"

"Hey! I'm not like Mikasa; if you want to like her, go ahead. It's been awhile since you've liked anyone anyways…"

He looked back down at his phone and continued the sentence he was working on. Armin went over to Beatrice's tank and watched her sit in content.

"T-thanks… who're you texting anyways?"

Eren sighed as put his phone down "Guess"

It wasn't even a question. "Mikasa…"

When Eren and Mikasa were together, it was like they were conjoined at the hip. When they weren't, she was always checking in to make sure he was ok. _I guess I don't blame her though… anyone would be like that if they went through what she did._

"She's like my second mother!" He got up from the bed, obviously too quickly because a second later he was holding his head and silently cursing to himself. "Damn hangover… where the fuck is my shirt?"

Armin walked over to where Eren's shirt was thrown carelessly in a corner, next to where his jacket and jeans were, and picked it up. "Here… wait, this is mine!" Armin looked up and down at the Guns N' Roses t-shirt that'd been missing for two weeks now.

"Sorry… aha"

"Just give it back at some point, yeah?" Armin threw the shirt at him and pulled out his phone. With one final deep breathe of courage he pressed send.

**Annie, its Armin. I just wanted to know if you were busy today.**

He set his phone his on his bedside table and changed into a shirt and jeans. When he heard the familiar buzzing, he unlocked his phone and read the message.

**What did you have in mind?**

He couldn't help but smile to himself for his tiny victory.

**Where should I pick you up?**

A minute later he received a text with an address on it, it happened to be no other than his friend Bertolt's house.

"Eren, can I take you home now?"

He looked over to a now fully-dressed Eren.

"Sure… I've got Connie coming over anyways."

Armin grabbed his coat, hat and wallet and followed behind Eren as they walked down the stairs. After taking the car keys off its hook he threw them to Eren.

"I'll meet you in the car, gotta tell granddad."

Armin first looked in the book study; his grandfather was nowhere to be seen. Then he walked in the living room, again he wasn't there. Finally Armin approached the back door and saw him outside _Of course you'd be there… _He opened the back door to reveal a small screen-in-porch where his grandfather was currently spacing out, obviously deep in thought.

"Granddad" No response so he tried again. "Granddad?"

This time he seemed to hear him, because he turned around trying to find the intruded that broke his train of thought.

"Hm? Wh-what? Oh Armin, what is it my boy?"

"I'm going to take Eren home now."

"Alright then" His grandfather turned back around, facing the yard.

"And, I was wondering if it'd be alright if I came home later? I made plans with a friend…"

"A new friend?"

"Ah, yes… her name is Annie." Armin scratched the back of his head.

"Oh, ho, ho! A girl? Good job, sonny." He clapped Armin on his shoulder, a little roughly.

"So, you don't need the car?"

"Oh, no! I let Marco take over the shop today. So, I'm fine if you hang out with her; just make sure I get to meet her someday. Got it?"

Armin smiled "Yes sir." He turned to go back inside, when his grandfather spoke up again.

"And Armin?"

"Yeah?"

"I… I love you, son. Don't forget that." He watched as his grandfather's eyes fill with sorrow for a second time that day. Armin walked over to hug him.

"I know. I love you too." He felt his grandfather's tears dampen his shirt. After a minute his grandfather pulled away and wiped away his tears.

"Sorry, last thing you want is an old man breaking down."

"No, Granddad it's alright… just… you know Mom loved you."

Armin's grandfather sighed.

"I know… my biggest regret was never telling her enough… but, you get going now. Don't keep Eren or your lady friend waiting any longer."

Armin nodded and left his grandfather, taking one more glance back at him before joining his best friend.

* * *

**Thank you so much for reading!  
Sorry it took longer uploading than originally planned, I've been busy with work, graduating, etc.  
Next - Chapter II : I Am With You**


	3. Chapter 2 - I Am With You

_**All Those Friendly People**_

**Chapter II **– _I Am with You_

_**I got lost on the highway**_

_**But don't ask me where I've been**_

_**Or what I've done**_

_**Oh lord, send me transmissions**_

_**Forgive me for what I've become**_

**Gorillaz**, _Amarillo_

Though Eren lived a couple streets down from his own house, Armin thought because it was on the way to his destination, it would be rude not to give him a ride. After dropping Eren off, he continued on his way feeling more and more nervous the closer he got. His hands were sweating and his stomach was doing somersaults, but he couldn't help but feel excited as well. Finally, he pulled into Bertolt's driveway, spotting Annie sitting on the porch steps smoking a cigarette and his heart hammered against his chest, his nervousness out the roof. But, after a deep breath he gathered all of his courage and opened the car door.

He approached her, slowly walking up the concrete path. When they made eye contact he smiled, but the only thing he got in return was her steely eyes. When he made it up the path he stopped directly in front of Annie. Looking down at her he was now able to see her clearly.

"H-hey…"

_Wow… she looks… so cute…_

Annie's hair was messy with bed head, put back in an even messier bun; Armin didn't think anyone could pull it off as well as she did. She was wearing black pants, albeit with a few holes in them, with a stripped t-shirt and a cargo jacket. Simple, like all her clothes tended to be. But to Armin, other girls didn't compare to her, not even his old crush. He also noticed she had some kind of black cloth in her hand.

"Hi." Her voice snapped him out of his thoughts as she looked up at him dully. "Where are we going?"

He scratched the back of his head.

"I, uh, thought we could go to one of my favorite places."

"Sounds… suspicious" She raised one eyebrow while getting up from her spot. "You're not kidnapping me are you?"

Her face never once changed from her bored expression, so Armin didn't know if she was joking or not.

"N-no?"

"Kidding" She smirked at him and walked down the steps. Putting the black object on her head, which Armin realized was a black beanie similar to his own. "You couldn't kidnap me even if you wanted to, shorty." He watched her descend the path in shock; he couldn't believe she just called him shorty.

"H-hey! I'm taller than you!"

She stopped and turned her head, flicking her cigarette butt to the ground. "Everyone's taller than me."

His heart skipped a beat. Annie started walking to the car, but once Armin realized she was on the move again he hurried in front of her, opening the passenger side door before she could reach it.

"Um, t-thank you…" She wasn't used to this behavior, but scooted in the car nonetheless. They drove in silence, the only sound coming from the wind-shield wipers as they frantically tried to remove any rain drop that hit their window.

While Armin was smart and always quick to say the right things in the moment, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't put together one sentence to say to the other blonde. He would open his mouth to say something, but then closed it immediately after. Whenever he did this he looked over worriedly to see if she had noticed; maybe she would think he was weird. But throughout most of the car ride, she had her head faced toward the passenger's side window, either deep in thought or extremely bored. Finally he gave up trying to start conversation with her and focused on the road… until she piped up out of the blue.

"How tall are you, exactly?"

He looked over quickly when he heard her; she was still looking out the window, not paying any attention to him.

"Um, 5'8 or 9… not quite sure. I used to be only 5'3 when I was around fifteen. I guess I should feel fortunate that I've grown as much as I have… How tall are you?"

"Only 5'1…"

"Wow… you are short…"

She flicked him off and he stuck his tongue out at her. When they made it to the large parking lot, Armin removed his key from the ignition and looked over to Annie. He watched her as she scanned her surroundings.

"You brought me… to a zoo?"

"Umm… yeah… yeah, I guess I did. Stupid right?" But when he looked in her eyes, though her face didn't show it, there was a sort of excitement he'd never seen on her before.

"No, it's not." She tucked a stranded hair underneath her beanie and blushed. "Actually… I've never been to a zoo."

He looked at her with wide eyes.

"What! How could you never have been to a zoo before?"

"No one ever took me…"

"Well, I'm really glad that I brought you!"

He gave her a big smile before unbuckling his seatbelt and getting out of the car.

They'd been walking around for almost an hour now, passing by the many animal habitats and exhibits, giving names to the animals they passed. Whenever Armin came across an animal he particularly liked, he would spout random facts to the girl next to him, every time apologizing afterwards for being such a nerd. But she never seemed to mind, as she would ask him to tell her more. They were one of few in the park today, considering it was sprinkling, and Armin only hoped they got through most of the zoo before it started to down-pour.

When they first arrived Armin paid for both him and Annie; only after several minutes of him insisting, she finally gave up and let him. The employee running the ticket booth was obviously amused with their behavior towards one another, because as they were walking away he told them to have a nice date. They both blushed crimson, Armin scratching the back of his head and Annie ferociously shaking her head no, waving her hands to put emphasis on the big, fat, **no**. Now they were standing in front of the giraffe habitat watching Caius, it was between that name and Jerry, eating the tree leaves.

"Armin"

"Mhm"

"I don't suppose you know all these facts just because you like animals…"

"… hmm, no" He turned his head to look at her. "Actually, both of my parents were scientists. My dad specifically worked with animals, while my mother was a-"

"Was?" She interrupted him and suddenly his shoes became more interesting.

"Yeah… s-she _was_. They both died two years ago."

Silence.

He was afraid to look at her face; the last thing he wanted was more pity for the parentless boy.

"I see…" He felt her fingers on his chin, lifting it up to make him look her in the face. "I know how you feel Armin... My mom died when I was fourteen. I get it. You don't want people to feel sorry for you. But… I am sorry."

He could barely concentrate on the words leaving her lips, as he was too shocked from her simple action. After a minute she realized her hand was still on his cheek and quickly removed it, both red in the face pretending to be interested in the ground.

"Right… let's, ah, move on." She faced forward, her expression back to her impassive one. He nodded in agreement and followed her as she led the way to the next habitat.

The rest of their time at the zoo was uneventful, but the two were having more fun than they'd had in a long time. Annie seemed to be relaxing more and more around Armin; she would talk more about herself and she even smiled more than once, though they were tiny. Armin mentally patted himself on the back for choosing to spend the day here. They would have stayed until nightfall, except around four o'clock the clouds finally burst and in record time, everything, including the two blondes, was soaked to the bone. They decided it was time to call it a day, but not before a trip to the gift shop. When they first entered from the double doors Armin watched Annie as she looked around in awe at the hundreds of trinkets, jewelry, and stuffed animals that made up the large shop. And while she was looking at mugs that had different animals on it, Armin saw something out of the corner of his eye and walked up to the checkout counter to get a better look. It was a simple necklace; a silver chain with a small, oval cut of Lapis Lazuli and two moons, one on either side with a smaller gem dangling from a chain connected to the bigger stone.

The store clerk caught Armin looking at it and walked up to him.

"Are you interested in that necklace, sir?"

After thinking about it for a minute, Armin answered.

"Yeah, I think I am."

He looked back at Annie, who was now concentrating on a penguin pillow, then followed the clerk to the cash register with the new item in hand.

"Did you know this specific necklace means inner truth, inner power, purification, and love?" Armin blushed at the last one, considering the necklace wasn't for him. "But that's only naming a few… That'll be 19.99. Will you be needing a bag, sir?"

He shook his head no as he paid, then quickly stuffed the necklace in his back pocket when he saw the soon to be owner of the gift approach him.

"Did you get anything, Armin?"

"Just… some chap stick…"

She didn't look convinced, and he knew he was a horrible liar, but she dropped the subject. They said their goodbyes to the clerk and stood by the door, waiting for the rain to lighten up. She kept staring up at him, with one eyebrow raised.

"Can I borrow that chap stick Armin?"

"Er… n-no… sorry, I don't like to share… germs, y'know?"

"C'mon. It's not like I have herpes."

He turned bright red.

"N-no! I was never intending t-that… I wasn't suggesting that I didn't want you to borrow it because… That's not what I meant!"

She smirked, happy with herself that she could make him act like this. He was so innocent. The rain stopped long enough for them to walk swiftly out of the zoo and back to Armin's car, where he immediately turned on the heater, fogging up the windows in the process. After content with his body temperature, he put his foot on the gas and started to drive back to his house.

They were both enjoying themselves singing along to Bohemian Rhapsody, mostly Armin, and making fools of themselves. Under different circumstances Annie would never let this side of her be shown. But, it was Armin. She didn't know how or when, but she found herself trusting him. Maybe it was his dorky but sweetheart type of personality. Maybe because the more she got to know him the more she realized they had some common ground when it came to life experiences: bullying, parents dying. Or maybe it was because Annie was starting to feel a little more for this intelligent boy…

_No… that couldn't be it. I've barely known him for twenty-four hours... C'mon Annie, I know it's been awhile but I'm not that desperate._

She stopped singing, and found herself staring at him. He was driving happily, reciting 'easy come easy go, will you let me go' as he tapped his hands on his steering wheel, going along with the beat. She smirked when he got to the next verse.

"Bismillah! Nooo, we will not let you go! Let him gooo!"

She felt her stomach flutter. The only people who'd ever opened up around her this much, and vice-versa, was Reiner and Bertolt. The only two friends she'd ever had. Then he came along and reminded her that not everybody was her enemy. _He_ was her friend now. He opened her up to new things.

"You're such a loser."

He stuck his tongue out at her as he continued to sing. Minutes later the song ended and they were now sitting in silence as a new song played quietly in the background.

"Annie, can I ask you something?"

Her heart sped up a bit. She never liked that question.

"Y-yeah."

He slowed down at a red light and turned to face her. Before she could comprehend what he was doing, he reached his hand towards her face and brought his thumb down on her lip, then moved it to the bruise that was on her jaw and stroked it gently.

"How did this happen?" His voice was filled with sadness and concern.

She removed her face out of his hold and looked out her window.

"S-sorry... I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable." His voice was barely a whisper now as he faced forward, driving down the isolated road. "I just – just need to know who's been hurting you, Annie."

Now she was a little confused. The way he worded his sentence was almost like he'd seen more than just her new cut and bruise. He must have seen the expression on her face because he started speaking once again.

"I saw more… last night at the party. Before I gave you my cardigan…"

Ohhhh, now she understood. He'd seen the dozens of bruises that danced along her arms like a disease. The results of her father's disease. She didn't know how to respond. If she spoke she was sure she would start to cry. But she couldn't let him think anything of it; she couldn't let him find out or he'd run from her like everyone else did. No one wanted a physiologically messed up girl… or her even more messed up father.

"It's nothing. I do martial arts and… boxing in my free time."

Both lies. Annie hadn't done either one in years, and most definitely not since her father had been diagnosed. He knew she was lying as well, but he sighed and knitted his eyebrows together solemnly. The rest of the car trip was awkward, like they were back at square one. Armin was almost tempted just to take Annie back to Bertolt's house thinking it would make her feel better, but decided he was almost at his house now and when they arrived in the driveway he stopped the car. The sun had gone down and the rain was pounding against the car's metal.

"This is my house." He told her.

Annie knew he was trying his best to be happy, he even added a smile, but he was probably thinking about how much of a freak she was.

She didn't know how wrong she was.

They both got out and half ran up the wooden steps to the front door. Armin unlocked it with his key and stepped inside, Annie following right behind him. When she entered the old Victorian house smells of cinnamon and home cooking overwhelmed her. Nothing smelt this good since when her mother was alive. She glanced over to Armin who was taking his shoes off, and did the same and slid her boots into a corner.

"Here, I can take your wet jacket."

She slid it off, feeling a little exposed because her stripped t shirt only covered the tops of her arms, and put it in Armin's extended hand. She wrapped her arms around her bare skin, but not only because she was cold.

"I'll be right back." He pointed to the room next the one they were in. "You can wait in the living room."

When she watched him disappear around a corner she finally walked in through the double doors and looked at her surroundings. The room was a weird hexagonal shape. Wooden oak floors, Russian-green walls with white trim, two wooden windows on the opposite side of the room she was on and a fireplace in-between them. There was a rug in the middle of the room that reminded her of something you'd find in Africa. There were two other doors in the room. One that was closed and looked like it led to the backyard, and the other one, open, revealing a large kitchen. There were dozens of sculptures, paintings, and tribal masks, even more family pictures in every direction. In the middle of the room, surrounding the rug, were three love-seats facing the fireplace. No TV. No gaming console or anything like that. Only bookshelves and an assortment of board games she saw in a trunk. It was cozy, yet exotic and it made Annie wonder what kind of people Armin's parents were before they died.

She spotted a white frame on the side-table next to her and gingerly picked it up, when she turned it around to face her, her heart started to beat a little faster. It was a picture of a young blonde boy playing on the beach with the largest grin she'd ever seen. Annie knew right away it was Armin and she smiled to herself. He had blue swim shorts on and yellow floaties on his arms. On top of his short hair sat a captain's hat that was too big. Annie thought he couldn't have been older than five or six because his smile revealed that one of his front teeth was missing. She set down the frame, eager to see another. She walked up to the fireplace where many littered the mantel. As she stood up on her tip-toes, she looked at one photo after the other. They were mostly of Armin, until she got to the very last one in the row. It was a family portrait.

Annie inhaled deeply as she looked at the once beautiful family.

"Hello dear."

She turned around rapidly at the sound of the unknown voice. She was greeted by an elderly man with a thick German accent and a friendly smile on his face. The same elderly man she'd seen in some of the pictures; Armin's grandfather.

"H-hello." She wrapped her arms tighter around herself, hoping he wouldn't see. "Where's Armin?"

"Oh, he went to wash up for dinner, as well as put your wet clothes in the dryer. Will you be staying for dinner, dear?"

"I wasn't really planning on it."

She wasn't used to this kind of hospitality. She rarely saw Reiner's parents anymore and Bertolt's parents weren't the most formal, which meant eating take-out in front of the TV. Plus, Armin's grandfather kept calling her 'dear'. Last time somebody called her that was in the first grade.

"C'mon! We, especially him, would love it if you could join us."

Annie looked around the room, she obviously couldn't say no to an old man.

"Um… yes, alright." She walked up to Armin's grandfather. "I'm Annie Leonhart, sir."

She reached out her hand for a handshake, but instead he wrapped both hands around her one and patted it gently.

"Oh I know. I am Lukas Kluge."

She looked up at him confused. Wasn't his last name supposed to be Arlert? He must have noticed as well because in the next minute she got her answer. Man, what was with her and people being able to read her like a book today?

"Armin's mother was my daughter."

"I see. I'm sorry."

"Thank you, dear." He released her hand walked through the kitchen doors. "I am going to start making dinner now. Go and keep Armin company. He's in his room upstairs."

She nodded in response.

The downstairs had a lot of pictures, but, it definitely didn't compare to how many were on the second floor. Annie looked at them with each step as she walked. Armin's entire life was plastered on the walls all around her. Finally she made it to the end of the hallway; the old wood creaked with each step, and looked in the open door. She saw the blonde sprawled on his bed, eyes closed.

After a minute of awkwardly standing in the hallway, she decided to walk in the dark room.

When she entered, she wasn't shocked by what she saw. Books, papers, and different plants were everywhere, on the floors and on the white wooden furniture. Armin's baby blue walls held maps of the world, sea charts, pie charts, and numerous other charts Annie didn't understand. There were at least three bookshelves in his cramped room, that didn't even count the one on his headboard, and a dresser next to a single door that led to a walk-in-closet. Lastly, in one of the corners sat an old looking, oak desk that had a laptop and more papers draped across it. Everything in this room screamed Armin.

One thing that did surprise her was the tank that sat next to his bed. Its heating lamp glowed red, the only other light source besides the hallway light, and Annie didn't know how she'd missed it before. She couldn't tell what occupied the habitat and was about to walk up to it when she heard Armin wake up.

"Hey…"

She only stared back at him.

"What's wrong?" He asked her as he sat up on his elbows.

Again she said nothing, but she shook her head no, telling him that nothing was wrong. He was now sitting fully upright, pushing his legs off the bed to start standing.

"Dinner's going to be ready soon." And with that she left him on his bed, confused.

Armin tried to get Annie to talk about what was wrong after dinner but she would only respond to him with "take me home", and with the impatient look she was developing, it didn't take him long before he did. But when he started to drive back to Bertolt's house she told him a new address. When he asked her if it was her house, she said nothing, just continued to look out her window. When he pulled into the driveway she said a silent 'thanks' and slowly walked to her front door, not even caring about the heavy rain.

The next day, Sunday, he tried texting her. The first message, nothing. The second message, again, nothing. After giving up the third time with no answer, he went back to his homework. The next morning he woke up. Honestly he was felt excited because he would get to see her. He got ready as usual and skated to school. He ran into Eren and Mikasa like he usually did and walked the rest of the time with them. But when he got to school, she was nowhere to be found. No Annie by her locker, no Annie to pass by the hallways, no Annie to see walking home. He was a little worried but decided she was just sick or something and would be there tomorrow.

Little did he know that it would be awhile before he saw her again.


End file.
